


The Traveler

by timelessphan



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Ninth Doctor - Freeform, Oneshot, Other, eleventh doctor - Freeform, female timelord, tenth doctor - Freeform, uhm idk what this is tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-23 02:19:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4859393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelessphan/pseuds/timelessphan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Is the Doctor really the last of the Timelords?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Traveler

Before

“So. What’s the big deal with this run-down car anyway?” Rosaline asked.

“Well, I don’t know. I wouldn’t have brought the antique dealer’s daughter to see this washed up old car if I knew.” Ayla replied snarkily.

“Alright then, Rohan, I’ll bring my dear ol’ dad down here to have a look. He’ll give you a price.” Rosaline snapped.

They burst into a fit of laughter.

“Why don’t you get in it and drive off?” Rosaline taunted.

“I dunno, why don’t you?” Ayla replied.

“Open the door, get in the car and I will too.” Rosaline promised.

“Of course you will.” Ayla teased.

She opened the old car’s door with little difficulty and sat in the driver’s seat.

She looked at Rosaline.

“Get in,” she said simply.

 

“Alright, you witch.” Rosaline replied.

She joined Ayla in the car, and watched as Ayla’s hands roamed the controls.

“Do you like the car? For real?” Rosaline asked, not sure if this was a joke anymore.

“I’ve always liked this car.” Ayla replied.

She took out the pocketknife her father had given her before he had passed away and flicked it open.

Rosaline flinched as the metal seemed to glow.

“Shove off, Rosaline. Surely you’re used to the glow of the silver knife by now.” Ayla snorted, picking away at some rust with her glowing (like, really glowing) knife on the dashboard.

Suddenly, the car burst with a flash of light and it faded away, making a lovely screeching sound that made Ayla cover her ears.

“What’re you doing?” Rosaline shouted over the screeching. “You’re going to get us killed!”

“I’m trying to stop it, you insolent twat!” Ayla shouted in alarm. “The controls aren’t working!”

“Ayla,” Rosaline said quietly. “Does this have anything to do with your second heart?”

“I don’t know!” Ayla cried. “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t fucking know and I’m so tired of not knowing!” She sat back on the seat in defeat. “Just take me where I need to fucking go, then!”

“Ayla,” Rosaline repeated. “This car, it looks smaller on the outside, doesn’t it?”

“What?” Ayla turned to face her. “What?”

“Look around. There’s infinite space… what have you gotten us into?” Rosaline hissed.

“Look, I don’t know where we are going, but we’re going to get there, and we’re going to do whatever this car needs us to do. Stupid car,” Ayla hunched over and sulked. “I hate being told what to do.”

“I know,” Rosaline replied. “Believe me, I know.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The First Time She Saw The Doctor  
First Regeneration

“Aliens? Planets? Universes? Monsters? I’m in.” Lane agreed. “Oh my God, I’m so in.”

“Yeah, yeah, science geek. We know that having the opportunity to see the world practically makes you hard,” Ayla smirked.

Lane rolled his eyes. “Gay boys do not get hard from talking about aliens.”

“Tell the tent in your pants that,” Rosaline laughed.

“Bug off, Rosie! I can still tell your precious father your secret.” Lane scoffed.

Rosaline blushed.

Ayla laughed.

“What secret?” She teased.

“Get out of my life,” Lane replied, rolling his eyes.

“Good luck with getting us to go away,” Rosaline winked.

“I hate you both,” Lane scoffed.

“You looooove us,” Rosaline teased.

“Especially me,” Ayla taunted.

“I hate you the most,” Lane informed her. He rubbed his hands together, “Now take me to this old time machine disguised as a car.”

“So. What do you think?” Ayla asked as she led him outside.

“It looks like a car,” Lane commented in an unsure tone.

“Come on and get inside,” Ayla said, opening her door and unlocking it for all the others to get in.

Rosaline was in the passenger seat.

Lane was in the back (the infinite back of the car).

He was speechless, Rosaline was grinning, and Ayla was working furiously at the controls, her pocketknife glowing a silver on the dashboard.

“Your knife looks like it is about to blow up,” Lane commented, hanging over the driver’s seat.

“It does that a lot in this car, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” Lane asked.

“Yes,” Ayla replied, taking the knife and stuffing the blade in a slot and turning it.

There was a flash of bright light and the same (less loud) screeching sound, and they were gone.

“So where exactly are we?” Lane asked once the car had reappeared in a parking lot.

“That’s the joy of it,” Ayla remarked. “I don’t know. But the car brings us where we need to go and we fix what we need to fix. If my dad were here, he’d cry of pure awe.” 

Lane smiled. “Of course he would.”

“He would!” Ayla replied indignantly.

Rosaline smiled and got out of the car.

“Are blue police boxes common here, d’ya think?” She asked, reaching out and touching the wooden box (also in the parking lot).

“Who’re you?” A man asked, popping out of the box. “How can you see the TARDIS? Humans’ eyes usually slide right over it. And what do you mean, wondering where you are? You’re in the 1949!”

“We’re in the 1940s, Lane!” Rosaline called over her shoulder.

“Who might you be?” Ayla challenged, pulling her sonic knife from the slot and exiting the car.

The knife had steam curling off of the metal. It was still glowing.

The man’s eyes widened.

“Come inside the box,” He said.

“What?”

“Come inside the box. That knife… I think I know what it’s made of.” He disappeared back inside.

“That won’t hold all of us!” Ayla cried.

“Bigger on the inside,” The man called.

“Just like the car,” Lane said loudly.

“What?” The man popped back out again.”That’s bigger on the inside too?”

“Yes, it’s enormous,” Lane exclaimed as Ayla shushed him.

The man was silent.

“I’m the Doctor,” He said, smiling. 

“I’m Ayla,” Ayla said.

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed.

“Gallifreyans can only tell their name once. Why did you tell me?” He asked, confused.

“What?” Ayla asked, more confused than he was.

“Oh,” The Doctor gasped. “Clever man!”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.

“This is Rose,” He said. “Say hello, Rose.”

“Hello,” Rose said.

“Hi,” Ayla said.

“Hel-lo!” Lane said. “Might I say that you’re very pretty.”

Rose laughed. “I get that a lot,” She said.

Rosaline smiled. “I’m Rosaline. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Pretty name,” Rose told her.

“Ditto,” Rosaline replied.

The Doctor placed Ayla’s hand on the scanner in the police box (which was indeed bigger on the inside).

“I see!” The Doctor exclaimed delightfully. “Rose, look!” 

Rose gasped. “Doctor!” 

He hugged her tightly and spun around.

Ayla stood there, uncomfortably.

She blinked; “What’s wrong with my hand and why are we celebrating?”

“You’re a Timelord,” The Doctor said.

“Nice,” Ayla remarked offhandedly, gazing around the Police Box.

“I’m a Timelord too,” The Doctor said. “This is absolutely fantastic!”

Ayla nodded slowly. “So, inform me. Why’s that a big deal, Doctor Who-ever-the-hell-you-may-be?” 

“I was the last Timelord until you came along,” The Doctor said.

Ayla raised her eyebrows, her face masked blankly.

“It’s a big deal because I thought I was the last one.” The Doctor said.

“That’s nice,” Ayla remarked, still gazing around the TARDIS and running her hands over the controls.

The Doctor’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Why aren’t you more excited?” He asked.

“Because I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Ayla said.

The Doctor’s excited expression fell.

“Rose, can you grasp the stethoscope?” The Doctor asked.

Rose nodded and disappeared down a different hallway.

“It seems as though you were born in Gallifrey but you were moved to Earth with your mother,but not father. Your father was nicknamed the Deacon. I never knew his real name, but I’m sure he told your mother.”

“The Deacon? A priest? Ha! Don’t make me laugh,” Ayla scoffed.

“He wasn’t religious,” The Doctor replied, looking a little confused by her statement.

“I may not have known him very well or for very long, but I know that he wasn’t religious.” Ayla retorted.

“Okay, well, why are you here? How are you alive?” The Doctor asked.

“I don’t know,” Ayla replied. “I don’t know but I found a car and my blade just started to glow so I stuffed it in a slot to stop it from blinding me and then I time-traveled for the first time.”

“You found a car,” The Doctor repeated. “And you took it.”

“Yes, pay attention.” Ayla rolled her eyes.

“You took an old car that was in the woods, rusting and being forgotten about, and took it. Who do you even think you are?” He asked.

“My name is Ayla Rohan, but in the past few weeks, I’ve been telling people from all eras of time to call me the Traveler, because I come and go. I think that I’m more important than you are, because you destroyed my planet and I escaped,” Ayla didn’t know where the words were coming from, but judging by the look on the Doctor’s face, it was hitting him hard. So, she continued: “Obviously, someone or something wanted me to escape. I was a little girl during the Time War, Doctor, and I was the one who blew up an entire hundred ships of Daleks at seven years old with just some wire and a small wind-up car.”

The Doctor’s face was getting paler and paler.

Ayla straightened her back and stood taller.

“I tried to save people when all you did was destroy them,” She spat.

“I had to!” The Doctor protested.

Ayla grinned evilly.

“No, you didn’t. You just had to get on the mothership and outsmart the Daleks. A grown man like you wouldn’t stand a chance, and that’s why my father sent me. He knew I was special. He left me my own TARDIS. I have a sonic blade,” She held up a wand that had originally been found on the floor of the Doctor’s TARDIS. “And now, I have my own, original Sonic Screwdriver. Thanks,” She hissed, grabbing Lane and Rosaline and dragging them back to the old car.

“Wow, thanks for that, Sweetheart,” said Ayla sarcastically to the car. “Thanks a whole fucking lot.”  
The Second Time She Saw the Doctor  
Second Regeneration

“Captain Jack Harkness,” the man said, holding out his hand for the Traveler to shake.

“Oh, stop it,” A man with a pinstriped suit, converse, and spiky hair said.

“The Traveler,” the Traveler replied, introducing herself to the man called Jack Harkness. “Nice to meet you, but I’m not interested. I mean, yeah, you’re attractive, but you’re obviously human and that’s not exactly my type.”

The man with the hair squinted.

“What?” The Traveler snapped sadistically. “Have I got something on my face?” She teased.

“I’m the Doctor,” said Spiky-Haired man.

The Traveler’s smile fell.

“Oh,” she said. “You’ve changed.”

“So have you,” Said the Doctor.

The Traveler’s face tightened in distrust as he ran his Sonic Screwdriver over her body.

“Yes. It’s you,” He said indifferently. “Nice to see you again, I suppose.”

“It always is. Where’s your Rose-petal?” The Traveler taunted.

The Doctor glared at her.

“Parallel universe,” He said. “I’m going to get her out.”

“Yeah, good luck.” The Traveler rolled her eyes. “She’s stuck there, and she’s not getting out, even if you tried hard enough. She’d die because the world has rewritten itself so she is in that parallel universe. She’s not coming out.”

“Where’re your friends?” The Doctor retorted.

“Off having fun, I suppose. Left them in a different era of time because they wanted to stay there. I guess the future is a fun place, but there’s nothing like the present.” The Traveler winked. “Speaking of presents, who’s this piece of work?”

“Donna.” Said the woman standing next to the Doctor.

“Nice to meet you, Donna. Shame you’re only a rebound from Rosie-pie.” The Traveler smiled sweetly.

“There are more of you?” Donna asked the Doctor.

“Only the unpleasant ones survived. Did he ever tell you how he killed an entire species of his own and of an enemy, and failed to do the job both times? Did he ever tell you that he stole his TARDIS because he wanted to see the world and that made him a grade a criminal on Gallifrey? Did he ever mention the other people in our species that were kind on a day to day basis, and he just up and killed them? I don’t think he did. He likes to put himself in the best light.” The Traveler interrupted.

“Why haven’t you gotten a new companion yet?” The Doctor asked.

The Traveler folded her arms and shrunk into herself. “Because I haven’t,” She snapped. “Because I don’t give people false hope, like you.”

“I can find you someone,” The Doctor offered.

“I think I’m good. I just saved an entire galaxy without anyone’s help. I’ll be fine.”

“Loneliness catches up with you,” The Doctor called as The Traveler walked away.

“So I’ve heard,” She replied.

There was a silence before she turned again.

“Look behind you. You’ll forget them when you look back, but look behind you. You’ll thank me, in a later regeneration.”

The Doctor’s brow furrowed as he turned (his companions turned as well).

“What is that?” He asked, while turning back around to face The Traveler, but she had already gone and he had already forgotten what he’d seen.

The Third Time She Saw the Doctor  
Second Regeneration

“Oh, it’s you,” The Doctor said, his lip curling.

“Wow, you really despise me, don’t you?” The Traveler teased.

The Doctor’s mouth twitched as if he were going to smile.

“I’m about to regenerate,” He said.

“I can tell. Where’s Donna?” The Traveler asked, actually concerned.

“She looked into the TARDIS and merged a human version of me. It got to be too much for her so I wiped her memories of me, the TARDIS, and our adventures.” The Doctor looked down, shoulders sagging.

“Oh,” The Traveler said. “Shame. I liked Donna.”

“So did I,” The Doctor replied.

They were quiet for a moment.

“You don’t want to go, do you? You don’t want this version of you to go away.” The Traveler said.

“No,” The Doctor sighed. “I don’t want to change again. I don’t understand why I can’t just stay me.”

“Hey, you get a fresh start, don’t you?” The Traveler bumped into him, smiling to comfort him.

“Say you tried to kill Hitler and then you regenerated, they won’t recognize you!” The Traveler exclaimed excitedly, then frowned.

“What did you do this weekend?” The Doctor joked weakly.

The Traveler smiled and looked down.

“I’m about to regenerate too, if it helps,” She said.

The Doctor looked down.

“We can get through this together, right?” She asked.

He nodded.

“Alright. The regeneration powers times two,” The Traveler joked.

The Doctor nodded again.

“But we’re still mortal enemies, right?” The Traveler winked.

The Doctor smiled. 

“Of course,” he replied.

The Fourth Time she saw The Doctor  
Third Regeneration

“Oi, Bad-Wolf girl! Come with me!” The Traveler shouted.

“Why?” Rose Tyler asked. “Who even are you?”

“I have an old friend who wants to see you.”

“Who?” Rose wondered.

The Traveler held a finger to her lips slyly. “Bad Wolf.” She hinted.

Rose’s face broke into a smile as she got into the passenger seat of the Traveler’s TARDIS.

“It’s funny, because I could be kidnapping you, but two words completely convince you to come with me.”

“Well, I seem to know who you’re talking about, and TenToo is still picking up Melissa from daycare.” Rose smiled. “Promise you’ll take me back to the exact moment we came from?”

The Traveler half-smiled.

“Promise,” She said.

“How do you know that you’ll run into the Doctor?” Rose asked.

“I don’t, but I have a habit of turning up in the right place at the right time. And I happen to know that there is a Dalek invasion taking place in 20 years. Are you coming?” The Traveler laughed.

“Of course I’m coming,” Rose replied.

The Traveler sighed. “I suppose I should tell you that he’s regenerated again since you last saw him.”

Rose’s face fell. “How many times?” She asked.

“Just once,” The Traveler replied. “Meanwhile, I’ve regenerated twice.”

“How many years has it been since I saw him, in Timelord years?” Rose asked, obviously concerned.

“About a hundred and fifty. But that’s okay, he remembers you. He doesn’t go one meeting with me without talking about you. I owe him a debt, so I thought to repay that, I’d travel so you could see him one last time.”

Rose smiled. “You’re not as bad as he rambled on about after you met.”

“Yeah, well, I’m only doing this because of the debt, like I said.”

“Aren’t you concerned about ripping a hole in the fabric of the universe? The two worlds collapsing?”

“Please,” The Traveler scoffed. “I can stitch them back together. The Doctor worries much more than I do. Fair warning, he’s a drunk giraffe now and likes bow ties and fezzes.”

Rose smiled. “I’ll be sure to compliment his bow tie.”

“He also has two new companions. Three, actually. Amy and Rory, who are married, and River, his ‘wife.’ It was purely a life-saving fling,” The Traveler assured Rose when she paled.

“But don’t worry,” The Traveler continued. “You’ll love her. She’s got… spunk.”

“Spunk like mine?” Rose asked timidly.

“Spunk like she shot the Fez off the Doctor’s head the first time he wore it. Then a cowboy hat in Arizona. She was bred to kill him but refused to instead and completely changed reality, which is why he married her. To save reality as we know it. To stop the universe from crashing in a heap on the floor.” The Traveler laughed with Rose. “But we all know he really loved you.”

The Traveler stopped and parked the car, getting out of it. 

“So are you coming?” She asked, extending a hand to the city to show Rose the place she used to live in. 

Rose smiled tentatively.

She got out of the car as the TARDIS materialized across the street.

It took the Traveler two hands to hold Rose back from running across the street and opening the door viciously.

“Stay back for a few minutes,” The Traveler said. “We’ll wait for him to notice you. Of course, he hasn’t seen me since my last regeneration.”

“How do you know he’ll notice me?” Rose asked.

“He’s the Doctor,” the Traveler rolled her eyes. “He’d give his life just to see Rose Tyler again.”

Rose smiled again.

“So I promise, we’ll run into the Doctor.”

The Traveler honked the horn of the TARDIS.

The redhead (Amy, the Traveler had learned) turned and looked.

She tapped the Doctor on the shoulder, who turned and looked at the Traveler. She waved and and pointed at Rose.

Rose waved.

The Doctor’s face lit up.

“Rose!” His voice shouted, sounding terribly excited.

He began to race toward her, and she took off running to him as well.

The Traveler followed them at a steady pace and caught up as they hugged each other tightly.

“Nice Bow-Tie, Doc.” The Traveler greeted him.

“How did you get here?” The Doctor asked Rose happily.

“The Traveler, she said she was repaying you for a debt and brought me here to see you.” Rose replied, also looking very happy.

Finally, the Doctor turned to face the Traveler, who was smirking.

“Before you chew me out, Doc, appreciate that I’m actually paying you back.”

“Are you still traveling alone?” The Doctor asked instead.

The Traveler blinked, thoroughly confused.

“Yeah, why?”

“I think I have just the person for you to travel with.” The Doctor replied.

“I told you,” The Traveler rolled her eyes. “I travel alone.”

“His name is Noel Hunt,” The Doctor pronounced the name ‘Noel’ like ‘Knoll.’ “Give him a change, please.”

“Fine,” The Traveler replied. “But don’t think I’ll repay you for this one.”

The Only Time She Truly Appreciated the Doctor

“Anywhere you want to go,” she said earnestly. “Any place you want to see, in all of time and space, I can take you there. All you have to do is say ‘yes.’” 

Noel pretended to think.

“It’s funny, you see. I try to travel with the Doctor, and he sends me to a girl. The girl is stubborn and detached, but she has a big heart. You say you travel alone, but I’ve been here two weeks and you already adore me more than yourself. You’d overturn three worlds for me, wouldn’t you?” He asked.

The Traveler hesitantly nodded.

“I would overturn those worlds for you, too. Yes. I think I’ll officially travel with you, now.”

The Traveler smiled.

“Thanks, Doctor.” She said.

“Thanks, Doctor.” Noel agreed.


End file.
